"Beloved by many people in Britain and a great champion of his home city and comedy. We met him on a few occasions as The Beatles and always ended up in tears of laughter. Today it's tears of sadness as well. See you Doddy."

And funnyman Gary Delaney called him "one of the all time greats" and, referencing the fact Sir Ken's shows could often last for hours on end, added: "The funeral will be held on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and most of Saturday."

Bake-off host Sandi Toksvig tweeted: "Best dinner companion I ever sat next to. Don't think I said a word. Just laughed and laughed and tried not to drown in my soup. Thank you for the genius x".

21

Comedian Dawn French took to Twitter to pay tribute to the comedy legendCredit: TWITTER / DAWN FRENCH

21

Paul added his condolencesCredit: Twitter/Paul McCartney

21

David tweeted about his sadness over the deathCredit: Twitter/David Walliams

TV host Carol Vorderman said: “I loved him from when I was a kid. I won 1st prize in Prestatyn Carnival 1965 dressed as a Diddy Man #Proud. Doddy always made me cry laughing.”

TV personality Claire Sweeney, a fellow Liverpudlian, shared some photos of the star's 90th birthday party on Twitter.

Alongside them, she wrote: "RIP Sir Ken Dodd. A legend and an inspiration. I have a lot to thank You for. I Was thrilled you had the best birthday party in Liverpool before you left us. Your city, friends,Family and Show business will miss you terribly."

Paul Chan, known for playing Mr Wu in comedy series Benidorm, wrote about a chance encounter his mother had had with Sir Ken several decades ago.

He said: "In the late 70's he came to my mum's chippy and ordered fish 'n' chips. He left and sat in his Rolls Royce, parked outside, eating them.

"Then he came back in to ask for the bin and drove off. My mum didn't know who he was. That's my Ken Dodd story."

Musician and comedian Russ Abbot said: "Sadly another legend has passed away. An icon, a one-off and a true professor of comedy. One of the greatest. How tickled I am to have known him."

The Good Morning Britain host added: "Died in the same home in Knotty Ash, Liverpool where he was born & always lived - after marrying his long time love Anne there just two days ago. A poignant end to an amazing life."

Ant & Dec wrote on Twitter: “So sad to hear of the passing of Ken Dodd. A ­comedy legend. RIP.”

Actor Samuel West wrote: “Remembering Ken Dodd performing at the Crucible ­Theatre. We had to order taxis home for all the staff. His set finished after midnight (and nobody wanted a second less). May we all fill 90 years so well.”

Doddy took an interest in the welfare of hedgehogs after regularly seeing them in his garden in Liverpool’s Knotty Ash.

The British Hedgehog Preservation ­Society tweeted: “We are truly saddened to hear that our lovely patron, Sir Ken Dodd OBE, has passed away. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. A true legend and a true gentleman, he will be missed.”

21

Sir Ken Dodd in a promotional shot for his show An Audience with Ken Dodd in 1994Credit: Rex Features